


Burnt Breakfast

by hrhowling



Series: Get Your Shit Together [2]
Category: Skulduggery Pleasant - Fandom
Genre: Domestic Disasters, Erskine doesn't know how to take care of himself, Gen, Post-War, Skulduggery Cares, The 'Get Your Shit Together' AU, struggling with depression
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-27
Updated: 2017-05-27
Packaged: 2018-11-05 14:36:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11015403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hrhowling/pseuds/hrhowling
Summary: A few years after the war, and Skulduggery is still checking in on Erskine. Honestly, the man needs it.





	Burnt Breakfast

**Author's Note:**

> I’m such a fan of domestic moments with angst thrown in, so have this.

After the war, Skulduggery made a habit of visiting Erskine whenever he could. The man had a penchant for forgetting to take care of himself properly, and if Skulduggery didn’t keep an eye on him, he was likely to collapse from exhaustion or blow up his home during his attempts to feed himself.

So it didn’t come as a surprise to him when he came into Erskine’s flat one morning to see Erskine rushing from his bedroom to the kitchen, swearing loudly in multiple languages as the smell of something burning crept into the living room. There was the sound of something clattering onto the floor and the swearing grew louder, marked with pain. Concerned, Skulduggery walked into the kitchen to find the man leaning against the counter, glaring down at the tray on the floor and the charred black remains of a loaf of bread lying next to it. He had burns on his foot and both hands, and there’s still water dripping from his hair.

“What have I just walked into?” Skulduggery asked, thoroughly bemused by the scene before him. While it wasn’t exactly a new one, it was still concerning to see what fresh new disaster Erskine had managed to (literally) cook up in his kitchen.

“I fell asleep in the shower,” Erskine grumbled, hobbling over to the sink and running his hands under the tap.

“Maybe you shouldn’t shower whilst you’re waiting for things to cook,” Skulduggery said.

“The recipe said it would take half an hour to bake!” Erskine protested. “And I haven’t showered in a while, so I decided not to waste time waiting and get something else done.” His shoulders slumped, and the circles under his eyes suddenly looked so much darker. “And look where that’s gotten me. A Dhia, I’m a mess, aren’t I?”

“It seems that way,” Skulduggery mused, holding out the paper bag he’d brought with him. Erskine was quick to swipe it from his hands and peer into it to find several breakfast muffins inside. “But it’s only been a few years. You’ll pick yourself up eventually.”

Erskine’s expression turned bitter, and he dropped the muffins on the counter. “Skulduggery, in those few years, Ghastly has already built up his business, Dexter has toured America and is making plans to go through Russia right now, Saracen is in university, and Hopeless is going to join him there in September. God knows where Anton and Larrikin are, but it’s got to be better than this. I’m still waking up screaming every night, I can’t cook to save my life, and half the time I don’t get out of bed until the morning’s done.”

“You’re getting out, again, though,” Skulduggery offered, having picked up the baking tray and binned the blackened lump of bread. “I saw you at the bar last week, chatting up a nice-looking woman.”

“Who I took to a hotel because I didn’t want her to see the state of this place, and at five am the same night I nearly strangled her because I thought she was trying to kill me.”

“Oh…”

“That’s not the first time I’ve scared people off, either. One way or another, they all just… leave.” Erskine sighed, rubbing at his face and wincing when he agitated the burns on his fingers. “Everyone leaves.”

“That’s not true. I’m still here, aren’t I?”

“Well… you’re you. You’ve put up with me for centuries.”

“Those women just don’t want to put up with the fact that you won’t be the only one doing the looking after in the relationship. You’ll find someone eventually.”

“And if I don’t?”

“You will. Trust me. But right now, chin up and eat. I brought you lunch for a reason.”

“I haven’t even had breakfast yet.”

“Which is why I brought you those breakfast muffin things. Come on, they’re from a new place down the road from here; it’s run by an American man.”

“Where would I be without you?”

“Squatting at Ghastly’s shop, and banned from his kitchen to boot.”

That was enough to make Erskine laugh, and Skulduggery was satisfied with that

**Author's Note:**

> My sp blog is called jumpingthroughwindows,


End file.
